The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that it has not yet received any official applications from groups wanting to register as political parties. Although many have shown interest by sending letters, none have taken the necessary formal steps to apply.

Sam Olumekun, who is a National Commissioner and also chairs INEC’s Information and Voter Education Committee, shared this information during an interview with The Nation. He said that while there are plenty of letters of intent, none of them count as real applications. According to him, any group wishing to become a party must first meet all the conditions before they can even send a letter of intent.

His comments came after a letter began making the rounds, supposedly from a group of opposition leaders trying to form a new party called the All Democratic Alliance (ADA). This group is said to include former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Kaduna State Governor Nasir el-Rufai. The letter, dated June 19, was sent to the INEC chairman and signed by Akin Ricketts as ADA’s national chairman and Abdullahi Musa Elayo as the group’s acting national secretary.

Under Nigerian law, for any political group to be officially recognized as a party, it must meet certain requirements. These include giving INEC a list of their national officers with their addresses, having open membership, submitting their party constitution, and having their headquarters in Abuja.

Section 75(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 clearly states that any political group that meets the legal requirements shall be registered, but they must apply no later than 12 months before the next general election.

Olumekun stressed that INEC will strictly follow the rules. He said any group that wants to become a political party must go through the proper legal process and meet all administrative conditions before their application will be accepted.